That Incurably Criminal Potter Boy
by EastSideIndie
Summary: Harry stops Dudley and his gang from beating up a young Danny McGinnis. Afterwards, Danny finds out there's more to Harry than being the incurably criminal boy who goes to St. Brutus'.
1. Chapter 1

_This story takes place in between The Order of the Phoenix and The Half Blood Prince._

_Synopsis: Harry saves a younger boy from Dudley's gang. Little Danny learns a bit about his incurably criminal neighbour._

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

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Danny McGinnis thought that he was a goner for sure. The moment he had found himself alone in the park with Dudley Dursley and his gang, he had known no good would come of it. He currently lay on his stomach howling for them to stop as Dudley shoved the younger boy's arm behind his back and another boy kicked him in the ribs. He thought for sure it couldn't get any worse. That was until another pair of shoes (these ones far less expensive and far more tattered than that of the rest of his assailants') came into view, inches from his nose. A familiar, yet hardly more welcome, voice said:

"Picking on someone you're twice the size of, eh Dudders?"

Danny tensed. The Potter boy's presence was certainly not celebratory.

"He could be picking on _you_," replied one of Dudley's minions nastily.

"He could try, but I'll bet you he won't."

Potter sounded as though he'd been waiting for a reason to provoke his cousin. Danny couldn't think of two people he wanted to be in between less. He squeezed his eyes shut and kept his nose to the ground.

"Hey! Put that thing away…"

Danny almost hadn't heard Dudley, and he was sure his gang hadn't either. Potter, on the other hand, had.

"Are you scared Dudley? Am I making you nervous? I wouldn't want you to lose face in front of your friends here. You remember last summer don't you?"

"That…that wasn't you…Mum said herself. S-she knew what did it. Those…those Dementy things…not you…"

"And how do you know I won't do something now?"

"You aren't…you're not allowed! That crackpot school of yours…"

"A lot has changed _Dud_. A lot of things can happen in one year."

Danny was now positive that he was the only one who could hear this conversation. The others, it seemed, were standing too far back.

"Let's get out of here," Dudley said to his gang, and Potter stepped away. The cousins were no longer practically on top of Danny, and the odd conversation had come to a close. Dudley's beefy hands released Danny's arm. He didn't move from the ground; he didn't even open his eyes.

"Aw, come on Dud! Let's show him what happens when you cross Big D!"

"Yeah Big D," Potter seethed. "Show me."

What was he thinking? Danny had never really met Potter, but he had seen him wandering about the neighbourhood. His mother certainly knew enough stories to ensure Danny stayed away from him. But none the less, he had seen Potter around and knew that Dudley was, without a doubt, the bigger and stronger of the two. Potter, despite being famous to the neighbourhood as the 'incurably criminal boy' wouldn't stand a chance in that fight.

"Let's just go, he's not worth the effort," Dudley muttered, leading his gang away.

From their protests Danny could tell they were all surprised by his behaviour, but none of them more than Danny. Potter was frightening, sure, but only based on stories that had been fed through the rumour mill fit to tatters. Dudley actually gave the local youngsters something to fear; he actually lived up to his reputation. So what about Potter frightened _Dudley_ so much? Danny knew one thing: he never wanted to find out.

"Alright there?"

Potter pulled Danny to his feet, but once there the younger boy edged away. He noticed as Potter stuck something into the back of his trousers. Could it be…not a gun surely? Was that what had scared Dudley?

"Are you hurt much?"

Danny gulped. He shook his head.

"They shouldn't bother you again tonight if they know what's good for them," the older boy sat on the only functioning swing. "Than again, what Dudley knows doesn't amount to much does it?"

Danny laughed despite himself. He quickly came to his senses though, and eyed Potter wearily.

"Are you going to beat me up too?" he asked. "You're cousin already stole my change so I haven't any money…if that's what you're looking for…"

Potter's expression became irritated.

"You're welcome," he muttered sarcastically.

He got up to leave and that's when Danny noticed how skinny he was. He really did look sickly. His face was pallid and his eyes somewhat dull and hallowed. His round glasses sat low on his nose, and the lightning bolt scar on his forehead stood out vividly against his messy black hair. He was rubbing his temple as though he had a headache.

"Sorry," Danny said quickly, not really sure of what he was doing. Potter turned to face him, hands shoved into his pockets. "It's just…well…everyone says you're…erm…"

"Bad news."

"Well, yeah. Something like that."

"Maybe you shouldn't waste energy listening to everyone else. Maybe you should save it up for running away from Dudders."

Danny nodded somewhat dumbly as Potter sat back down on the swing. He, himself, took a seat opposite him on the bottom of the slide.

"You're McGinnis right? Dylan…?" he ventured, shrugging apologetically.

"Danny."

"Right," he stood up and took a few steps closer. He stuck out his hand, "Harry Potter."

Danny rose up and shook his hand and they returned to their respective seats. He sat there; brewing in the awkward quiet that seemed one sided. Harry, in fact, seemed quite content to sit in silence. After a while the need for conversation was too overwhelming, and for some reason Danny didn't want to leave quite yet. So he examined his shoelace with disinterest and said, "So, you go to a privet school than?"

Harry looked up at him, seemingly surprised to see that he was still there. "What? Oh yeah…yeah I do. And you?"

It seemed harder for the older boy to make conversation than to sit in silence. Danny had been watching the mix of emotions that had crossed his face while they were sitting there, and wondered what could have happened to make the boy act so oddly. Was it living with the Dursley's? Because those people could drive anyone barking mad.

"Yeah, St. Christopher's in Bath."

"Like it there do you?" Harry didn't really sound interested but rather like he was asking out of politeness.

"It's all right. And you, where do you go?"

It seemed to both pain and anger him to say it, but Harry eventually spat out, "St. Brutus'."

Danny blinked. So it was true than.

"What did you do to land yourself in there?" he asked, awed.

"Do you live around here?" Harry asked, ignoring the question and standing up. "It's getting dark and you don't want to be wandering around alone. Dudley's gang is probably out lurking about here somewhere."

Danny was surprised by his apparent concern. "I live on Portsmouth Crescent. It's less than five minutes from here."

"I'll walk you."

Danny wondered what his mum would say if she saw him walking with the infamous Potter boy, but his fear of Dudley overruled against his mum's impending nagging. They got up to leave and started walking in the opposite direction of Privet Drive, where he knew Harry to live.

"So do you like living with your aunt and uncle?"

More and more small talk, but what was a kid to do?

"No, would you?"

"Like living with the Dursley's? Not bloody likely. They used to have bars on there windows a few summers ago!"

"Just the one," Harry rubbed his temple again, "in my bedroom."

Danny stopped walking. Who on earth was he dealing with here? This guy had needed to be _locked_ in his own room! Was he dangerous? Were the stories actually true?

"Look I'd rather not dawdle," Harry was saying. "I have to be home soon."

Danny didn't move. "Why were there bars on your window? What did you do?"

Harry sighed. "Because, my aunt and uncle are barking mad, that's why."

He seemed to want to leave but was reluctant to abandon Danny in case his cousin returned. Danny wasn't sure if he minded.

"Look," Potter continued, "they took me in when my parents died and they've hated me ever since. They didn't want me to go to Hog—to this place, so they tried to lock me in. I didn't _do_ anything."

"But then why to you go to St. Brutus'?" Danny asked, now more curious than he ought to be. They had stopped walking completely now.

"I don't really," Harry replied, not looking at him. "The Dursley's just say I do."

"But where do you go every year? My mum says you must go to a boarding school because you're always gone in September and you don't come back till June…"

Harry sighed and started to walk again. "I go to the school my parents went to. My aunt and uncle disprove of it, so they tell people I go to St. Brutus'."

Danny nodded. It didn't really make sense to him, but what did he know? That whole family was made up of whack jobs.

"What happened to your parents?" he ventured.

"They were murdered."

Harry said this as though he's said it a hundred times: dully and as if it didn't pain him as much as numb him at this point. His hands were clearly balled into fists in his pockets and his shoulders were hunched. He looked much like he had last summer, skulking around parks and streets as if haunting them; trying to disappear.

"When?" Danny asked before he could stop himself.

"When I was a baby, I don't really remember it."

"That must have been hard…but surely you keep in touch with their friends, or other family?"

"I had a Godfather…"

Danny looked up. Harry's voice had cracked slightly and he could see that his jaw was clenched. This pain was fresh, newer than that of his parents' deaths. Harry cleared his throat, blinking rapidly. Danny pretended not to notice. Still, curiosity propelled him forward.

"What happened…?"

Harry cleared his throat again; he seemed a lot different from last summer, less angry, and more subdued. It was no wonder he looked sickly…

"He was killed in a fight," Harry finally choked out flatly. "A few weeks ago…"

Danny kept quiet, wanting to push for more of an explanation but knowing that it wouldn't be right to ask. They walked a bit further and stopped in front of Danny's house. It was completely dark now and he was glad for the company, no matter how strange it was.

"G'night than."

Danny looked up but Harry was already walking away. It was then that he saw what was tucked into the back of Harry's trousers: a _stick_. He shook his head. That whole family was bonkers.

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AAAAAND review :) 


	2. Chapter 2

Just as he had predicted, Danny had gotten an earful from his mum the second he had walked through the door. He didn't bother to tell her about Dudley's gang, preferring to just let her go off at him until she threw up her arms in frustration and told him to go to his room. He did just that, trying to ignore the pain in his side from being kicked and the aching in his arm from being held down earlier. Now alone, he was left to his thoughts.

Harry Potter was a strange one to be sure, but he didn't seem nearly as bad as everyone made him out to be. He had saved Danny hadn't he? Surely that meant something.

Just as Danny was about to settle down for bed, there was a shriek from downstairs. He scrambled out of bed and ran down to the kitchen where his mother was backed against the counter, brandishing a spatula at the owl that had come to rest on the back of a chair.

"Get out! Get out of my kitchen!"

"Mum?" Danny inched into the room looking from his mum to the bird, the latter looking offended at being threatened by a baking utensil.

_Don't be daft_, Danny said to himself, _Owls can't look offended._

"Get out I say!"

The owl hooted scornfully at her and then swivelled its head so that it was looking at Danny. It stuck out its leg, offering him the letter that was tied to it and hooted again. Without knowing what else to do, he took a few steps forward and reached out.

"What are you doing?" his mum cried. "Don't go near that thing! Don't touch it! Daniel that bird is going to bite you, who knows what diseases it's carrying?"

He ignored her and untied the letter with shaking hands. The owl did nip him, but in a sort of friendly way that he had to remind himself owls didn't do. When the letter was off, the owl hooted once more and flew out of the open window.

The paper wasn't like anything he'd ever seen. It wasn't bleached with neat blue lines, or even anything you'd use to print. Rather it was slightly old looking and yellowish and clearly addressed to:

_Mr D. McGinnis_

_The Second Largest Bedroom_

_23 Portsmouth Crescent_

_Little Winging_

_Surrey_

Danny ripped it open and read it through. And then he read it again just to be sure. On his third go of it, his mother finally took it out of his hands and read it through herself. While she did so, Danny sat down at the table to think. Was it a hoax? Witches and wizards weren't real. And there certainly could _not_ be a school for them. It was all just ridiculous.

"This is your father's fault."

Danny looked up. His mum rarely talked about his father, whom she had divorced before Danny was even born. He visited Danny on holidays and came down to Surrey for birthdays, but Danny's mum was pretty adamant in her dislike for him. She hated when he came to visit, thinking his eccentric looks and behaviour was just fuel enough for the gossiping neighbours.

"Why, did he write the letter?" Danny asked. He couldn't think for the life of him why his father would do such a thing, let alone train an owl on top of it.

"Just go to bed," she replied, tucking the letter into her pocket. To herself she muttered, "That man is going to get an earful tomorrow."

Danny sighed and trudged his way back to his room. His dad was visiting tomorrow for Danny's eleventh birthday; maybe he would ask him about the letter then.

That night he dreamt about Harry Potter riding on the back of a giant owl, shooting bullets from the stick he carried around at Dudley and his gang until they were eventually chased away. He woke up with a start the next morning and the dream was forgotten. From downstairs he could hear his mother's shrill voice.

"All I'm saying is that he's already enrolled at St. Christopher's! He can't go to this school now! What will I tell Mrs Jenkins? Her daughter is going there too! I think the girl will notice that Daniel's not there in September!"

"Rebecca, see reason!" That was his dad's voice. "Now more than ever, Danny's got to learn how to use his magic—!"

"Be _quiet_ will you? Someone will hear!"

"We're inside! Who the bloody hell is going to hear us?" There was no answer. "As I was saying, things in the wizarding world are…_changing_. It would have been important before, but now it's _imperative_ that he learn how to use his magic! He has got to go to Hogwarts!"

"I've already told you, no. I refuse to allow him to go! That's the last I'm saying on the subject Ben."

"Rebecca," Danny's father started, "Muggle born children whose parents have refused to allow them to attend wizarding schools have _died_. They've lost control of their magic and caused fatal accidents, sometimes not only to themselves. Danny's got a gift, but if he doesn't learn how to use it he could _die_."

Danny, who had quietly made his way down the stairs and was now sitting on the floor outside of the living room, seemed to have forgotten how to breathe.

"How do you even know he has…you know…?" His mother asked.

"Apart from being accepted at perhaps the best wizarding school in the world? I don't know; it's not as though I'm here a lot. Chances are you've seen all the proof you need."

Danny's mum laughed harshly. "I highly doubt that."

"Well, now come on. Has anything ever happened around him that no one could really explain?"

In the hallway Danny thought. Plenty of things had happened; plenty of _unexplainable_ things. Just last week he had been crossing the street when a car had ignored the stop sign. Danny had looked up just in time to see the front end of the car and in the span of a blink he was suddenly on the other side of the street! He had been so flustered that he hadn't even thought to yell a few words at the driver as he or she sped off. He hadn't known what had happened at all. And then of course there was yesterday, the only reason he had been out late at all.

"No, not at all! Of course not," his mother was saying.

Danny jumped up and went into the living room.

"You're lying!" he yelled. "Yesterday something happened! It was the whole reason you sent me outside!"

His mum took two swift steps towards him and pointed her finger at his nose, her eyes blazing. "Don't ever talk to me like that! Do you understand? I'm not lying, _you're _the liar here!"

"Rebecca!" Danny's dad looked at his ex-wife with a mix of shock and horror. "Settle down! What happened yesterday Danny?"

"I'm not going to put up with this!" his mum shrieked. "I'm not going to listen to this rubbish!"

With that she stormed out of the room. They heard her snatch her keys from the hook in the hall, followed by the _bang_ of the front door being slammed shut. The engine of her car started and by the screeching of tires, they knew she was speeding away.

"Sorry about her," Danny mumbled, trying to ignore the lump in his throat and the fact that his face was burning with embarrassment. "She's like this sometimes, but she settles down."

"I know son," his dad replied sympathetically. "Were you listening that whole time?"

"Not the whole time…" Danny relaxed; he knew his father wouldn't get mad at him, "a while though."

"And did you read the letter your mum and I were discussing?"

"Yeah, I read it."

"And what did you think?"

Danny told him and then asked, "Did you say I have magic?"

His dad sighed and told him to sit down. Danny did so and waited, but it seemed like whatever his dad wanted to tell him it was causing him great difficulty to do so. Eventually Ben McGinnis cleared his throat and said, "Danny did you ever wonder why your mum and I didn't stay married?"

Danny had his theories; most of them based on his parents' very different personalities clashing, but shook his head.

"Well," his dad continued, "it was because I'm a wizard. And now…well son, so are you."

He let that sink in and then went on to explain quite a few things. Like what it meant to be a wizard, and about magic and Hogwarts, and Muggles, and a number of other things that swam around in Danny's head with excitement. But then his face became grave and he said in a serious voice, "These are troubling times, Danny. There's been an uprising in our world and it's no longer safe. There's a very bad man out there…"

"What's his name?" Danny asked.

"I'll tell you but you must never repeat it," he said this so earnestly that Danny could only nod his head. "Even his followers are afraid to say it, and I know of only two people who will. His name…well its Lord…V-Voldemort."

That seemed like an odd name to be so afraid of saying, but if it frightened his father (and it clearly did) than that was enough to ensure Danny's fright too.

"Everyone calls him You-Know-Who, or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named," his dad said, still clearly nervous about the subject. "He killed a lot of people sixteen years ago, and did a lot of terrible things. He's back now and he's got a lot of followers on his side. This is why it's so important for you to go to Hogwarts. You have to learn how to defend yourself against people like this man."

"Isn't anyone doing anything about him?" Danny asked, shaking. "Why don't they fight him, or arrest him? Why don't they stop him?"

"It's hard to explain," his dad said.

He looked older somehow, like all of this had aged him. Come to think of it, he had been looking like this for the past year. Danny thought it must be because he worked so much. In fact, Danny had hardly seen him at all last year because he was always working.

"You see Danny, You-Know-Who is a very powerful wizard; possibly the most powerful wizard. He knows a lot about the dark arts—bad magic—which makes it impossible to just arrest him. But there is someone…someone you'll no doubt hear about at Hogwarts. You see he's become very famous in the wizarding world."

"Who?"

"Well you might have seen him around; he lives just a few blocks from here."

"Who?" he asked again, curious.

"Harry Potter."


	3. Chapter 3

When his mom returned home, she had gone straight to his room and had begun to throw all of his belongings into his trunk. She didn't look, speak, or even acknowledge their being there. She just packed up Danny's things and heaved the trunk downstairs to the front door.

"Mum…?" Danny ventured but she wouldn't even turn to face him.

"Rebecca, don't be like this."

His dad's words made her stiffen. When she finally turned around there was a look of hatred in her eyes.

"You and your…_world_!" she seethed, pointing an accusing finger at her ex-husband. "You ruined my life Ben McGinnis! And now you've ruined Daniel's! I want no part of it! I don't ever want to hear about m-magic, or wizards, or…or…YOU! Not ever! Take _him_ with you!" Here she shoved Danny towards his dad, her eyes full of contempt. "I never want to be reminded of you again!"

His dad steered him to the back door with one hand and pulled his trunk with the other. When they were standing in the backyard, completely fenced off from prying eyes, the older man took out a stick. Behind them his mother was whispering at them, swearing and saying things like, "If the neighbours see" and "Put that away". He pointed the stick (which Danny discovered to be a wand) at Danny's trunk and said a few strange words that made the trunk small enough to fit in his pocket. Danny stood there wide eyed, unable to speak. His mum, on the other hand, had gone completely white and hissed at them to stop; to leave.

"Now, what I'm going to do next may seem a bit odd, but just promise me you'll hang on, okay?"

Danny nodded; what could get odder than this?

He found out a second after he grabbed his father's arm. There was a tugging sensation at his navel, and then everything went black. He tried to scream but nothing came out. In fact, he was being squeezed far too hard to scream; he couldn't even breathe. And then suddenly it was over.

"Alright?"

Danny sat down with a _thump_; his legs too wobbly to carry him. He looked around at his new surroundings. They were in the middle of the kitchen in a rather nice but peculiar flat. Everything seemed to be magical, even the old looking radio that was turning its own dials to find something to listen to. In the sink the dishes were cleaning themselves and on the stove was a pan that was frying eggs; eggs that were flipping on their own accord. When Danny took a whole scope of the room, he realized that he and his father were not alone. Sitting at the table, curled up in the chair and seeping at her tea, was a woman perhaps a few years younger than his mother. She had curly brown hair that was being held up by a _quill_, and her bright green eyes looked at him with curiosity behind her black thick-rimmed spectacles.

"Hello there," she said as his dad helped him to his feet. "You must be Danny."

"Sorry I'm home so early darling, but things got a bit out of hand and we had to leave."

Danny's dad leaned over and pecked the woman on the cheek before turning to him and saying, "Son, this is Leonora Vector—"

"Just Leo," the woman corrected.

"Or _Professor_," his dad continued, laughing. "She's a teacher at Hogwarts, though I doubt you'll have her. She teaches a more advanced class that isn't available to first years."

"Ben, leave the introductions until he's changed out of his pyjamas and had something to eat. He looks starved!"

It was true. Danny looked down at himself and realized he still wore his nightclothes. And as a testimony to Leo's words his stomach let out a low rumble that made his face heat up with embarrassment.

"Here," his dad pulled out his matchbox sized trunk and returned it to its normal size. Once finished, he made it rise into the air as if carried by strings and led it into a bedroom. "Get yourself dressed and then come have some breakfast. I'll be able to explain things a bit more fully."

Danny opened his trunk. It had been packed in such a rage that he was not surprised to find that a few necessities had been left out. His toothbrush, for instance, was missing, as were any shoes. He looked down at his bare toes. It would be a huge embarrassment to have to mention these things to his father. The simple fact was that his _mum_ had neglected to think of any of these things—even under the circumstances that had been presented. More over, that this was not unordinary; life for Danny had always been somewhat neglected by Rebecca Jones (who had not even bothered to pass her surname to her son). He tried to ignore the burning behind his eyes and pulled off his night things, throwing them into the trunk. He dug through the mess and pulled out a pair of trousers, a plain white t-shirt, and a bunched up pair of socks. When he had finished dressing he made his way back to the kitchen.

Leo and his dad didn't notice him.

"Scrimgeour's been calling for you while you were gone," Leo was saying quietly but with a serious tone in her voice, quite unlike that she had when she had greeted Danny.

Danny silently went back into the hall without their seeing and listened.

"Something about Arthur Weasley," she continued. "I suspect he's quite curious about the family that Potter spends so much time with." When his dad said nothing, she went on. "When I said you were away he rounded on me."

"Whatever for?" his dad asked but he sounded as though he knew the answer.

"He was asking about Dumbledore, of course. I got an owl from Minerva just yesterday, warning me against this rubbish. She said he's been after all the staff, wanting to know where the Head Master's been disappearing to. As if I know! He doesn't tell us teachers anything, and more than half of us are in the Order!"

"So what did you tell Scrimgeour than?"

"I said, 'Rufus, love, the efforts and _money_ you're putting forward to try and find an old man are as useless as they would be if you—!'" she stopped and let out an embarrassed cough. "Well after that it got a bit…I mean…_he kept pushing for me to answer him_!"

Danny's father laughed. "No doubt he hasn't called back since then."

"No, but he _was_ keen on talking to you about Arthur; Potter more like."

"Yes, he's had his eye on Potter ever since Fudge's resignation. Poor Arthur's had to suffer through having a 'friendly tea' with Scrimgeour four times this week. All this 'Chosen One' bullocks has made him loopy if you ask me."

"Do you believe it though, about Potter being the Chosen One?"

Danny could bear it no longer; he didn't understand any of what they were saying, only that this Scrimgeour person was interested in Harry Potter. He stepped into the kitchen and sat at the table beside his dad.

"Chosen to do what?" he asked.

His dad looked slightly flustered. "Erm…nothing son. Now, how about that breakfast? Then, after you're all settled in, we can head off to Diagon Ally to get your school things!"


End file.
